Spanish Prime Minister Slams Roadmap for Catalonian Independence

On Monday, Republican Left of Catalonia, headed by Oriol Junqueras, and Democratic Convergence of Catalonia, led by Artur Mas, signed a roadmap for the region's independence process, which outlines the path they want to take if they win the elections on September 27, according to El Pais newspaper.

MADRID (Sputnik) – Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy criticized Tuesday a document signed by Catalan political parties for the region's independence, saying that it was bad for both Spaniards and Catalans.

According to Rajoy, the roadmap is "bad for both Catalans and the Spanish, both in substance and in form. It is bad in the substance because it goes against the sense of history. It breaks more than 500 years of life together, breaks all the ties that unite us and makes many Catalans stop being Spanish and European."

Rajoy said that no Spanish government would ever recognize a vote to break up the country.

Despite central government protests, Catalonia went ahead with an informal independence vote late last year. On November 9, 2014, more than 80 percent of Catalans voted for independence. The Spanish government dismissed the vote as unconstitutional and filed complaints with the Constitutional Court.

Following the referendum, Catalan nationalists called snap regional elections to be held on September 27, 2015, another attempt by the region to create a groundswell of popular support for independence from Spain.